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Entyreal (Lorica)
Entyreal Entyreal, population 1,200, is the town of bridges. Built at a fork in Syrragil River, Entyreal gradually sank into the water (a process that has taken over a hundred years) because the underlying terrain had become depleted of supporting water. Soon the original foundations of Entyreal had entirely sunk below the level of the nearby rivers. In order to keep above sea level, the people of Entyreal opted to build their buildings taller and taller. They did this to retain their strategic position along the river. Over time, the second floors had also sunk below sea level, and now we're onto the third floor, which is now effectively the first floor. The lower levels have since become entirely flooded and barricaded off from the third floor, with the second floor being mostly water but still having breathing space depending on how high the water level in the area is; the first floor is entirely flooded and has since degraded to a significant extent, requiring plenty of supports to be placed to keep the buildings from collapsing on their own weight. There are just about no basements throughout the town. Transport occurs in two modes: by water and by bridge. The buildings of Entyreal are spread out to some extent, allowing wooden bridges to be built around clusters of buildings. They take the form of piers which go around (and are adjacent to) buildings, forming clusters, and rounded bridges which cross over the water and connect these clusters. Because Entyreal is situated on a river, there is a current flowing east to west. This current is strongest along the northern and southern sides of the town, going strictly westward. Transport occurring along the river can easily go west along the outskirts of the town. Meanwhile, the current is considerably weaker and contains eddies toward the center of the settlement, which facilitates waterborne transport eastward. Water transport is more convenient than but more costly than land transport, since passengers have to pay a fee to the ferry men. Bridges do not entirely connect all of Entyreal with itself, and there isn't any bridge that connects Entyreal's watery settlements with any river banks. Water transport is absolutely essential for daily life. Therefore, whoever controls the waterways and the ferries controls the settlements. The ferries are all controlled by the Entyreal Ferrymen Guild, making it a monopoly and the most powerful organization in town. In fact, it has even more power than the Lord of Entyreal possesses. This of course puts the town's nobility in a compromised position. The Guild has the ability to shut down the nobility's military simply by denying them ferry service. The Ferrymen Guild requires its members to charge a significantly higher fee than the optimal, allowing the Guild to obtain a substantial amount of money. Every once in a while people try to start their own ferry services to break the monopoly, but the monopoly is quick to assert their superiority by hiring strong-men. The Entyreal marketplace is actually a series of merchant ships, which are generally in the same place each day to be easy to find but are able to move from place to place depending on time of day, forming a figure-eight circuit over the course of the day (center, go east, up to top, west, south to middle, east, south to bottom, west, north to middle, east to center) along the waterways. The submarine section of Entyreal also features a long-sunk and abandoned temple. Entyreal has no other temples. Category:Settlements